is a lying bitch. It’s like I said; I don’t believe in strays.”
“I can’t do this. It’s not what I want.”
“Tough. My lawyer’ll get in touch with you tomorrow, and he’ll have a big fat prenuptial for you to sign. The way it’s written, both of us will come out of the marriage with exactly what we took in. I can’t touch your assets, and you sure as hell can’t touch mine. My financial responsibility is to the kid.”
“I don’t want your money! Why won’t you listen? I happen to be able to take care of this child all by myself. I don’t want anything from you.”
He ignored her. “I have to be back in North Carolina soon, so we’re getting this over with right away. By this time next week, the two of us are going to be married, and after that, we’ll use my lawyer to communicate about the kid and set up transfers back and forth.”
He was destroying all her wondrous plans. What a mess she’d made of everything. How could she hand her child over to this barbarian, even for short visits?
She was going to fight him. He had no right to stake a claim to her baby! She didn’t care how many millions of dollars he had or how expensive a court fight would be-this child was hers. She wouldn’t let him barge in and take over. He had no right-
Her indignation slammed headlong into her conscience. He did have a right. He had every right. Thanks to her deviousness, he was the child’s father, and whether she liked it or not, that gave him a say about the future.
She made herself face the truth. Even if she could afford a lengthy court battle with him, she wouldn’t do it. She had gotten into this situation by turning her back on her principles, convincing herself that the end justified the means, and look where that had led her. She couldn’t do it any longer. From this point on, she must base every decision on only one criterion: what was best for this child?
She grabbed her notes from the lectern and made her way to the door. “I’ll think about it.”
“You do that. You’ve got until four o’clock Friday afternoon.”
“Dr. Darlington barely made the deadline.” Brian Delgado, Cal’s lawyer, tapped the prenuptial agreement that lay in the center of his desk. “She didn’t get here until nearly four, and she was very upset.”
“Good.”Even after a week, Cal couldn’t contain his rage over what she’d done to him. He could still see her standing in the classroom wearing that dark orange dress with a double row of gold buttons fastening her up tight. For a moment he hadn’t recognized her. Her hair had been swept back into one of those efficient hairdos, and big glasses covered up her green eyes. She’d looked more like the CEO of a company than any woman he’d ever had in his life.
He stalked over to the windows, where he stared blindly down at the parking lot. In two more days he’d be a married man.
The idea of this kind of permanence made him feel as if he were strangling. Permanence was for after his career, for the time when was too damned old to throw a ball, not for now, while he was still in his prime. He’d do his duty by this kid, but Dr. Jane Darlington was going to pay the price for manipulating his life. He didn’t let anybody push him around. Never had and never would.
He ground out the words. “I want her punished for this, Brian. Find out everything you can about her.”
“What exactly are you looking for?”
“I want to know where she’s vulnerable.”
Delgado was still young, but he had the eyes of a shark, and Cal knew he was the right man for the job. Delgado had been representing Cal for the past five years. He was smart, aggressive, and no leaks had ever come out of his office. Sometimes Delgado could be overeager in his desire to please his most valuable client-a few times he’d gone off half-cocked-but Cal figured there were worse faults. So far he’d handled this mess with speed and efficiency, and Cal didn’t doubt that he’d handle the rest of it equally well.
“She’s not going to get away with this, Brian. I’m marrying her because I have to, but that’s not the end of it. She’s going to discover she picked the wrong man to push around.”
Delgado looked thoughtful as he tapped the prenup with the top of his pen. “She seems to lead a quiet life. I don’t imagine I’ll find too many skeletons.”
“Then find out what’s important to her and bring her down that way. Put your best people on it. Investigate her work life and her professional life. Find out what matters most to her. Once we know that, we’ll know exactly what we’re going to take away.”
Cal could almost see the wheels turning in Delgado’s mind as he sifted through the challenges of the job he’d been given. Another less aggressive attorney might have balked at an assignment like this, but not Brian. He was the sort who enjoyed feasting on a kill.
As Cal left the office, he made up his mind to protect the people he most cared about from what Jane Darlington had done. His family still mourned the deaths of Cherry and Jamie, and he wouldn’t add to their wounds. As for the baby… People’d been calling him a tough son of a bitch for as long as he could remember, but he was also fair, and he wouldn’t let the kid be punished for its mother’s sins.
He shied away from thinking any more about the baby. He’d deal with those responsibilities later. For now, all he cared about was revenge. It might take a while, but he was going to hurt her, and he’d do it in a way she’d never forget.
The night before the wedding, Jane was so full of dread she couldn’t eat or sleep, but, as it turned out, the actual ceremony proved to be anticlimactic. It took place at the office of a Wisconsin judge and lasted less than ten minutes. There were no flowers, no friends, and no kiss.
At the end of the ceremony, Brian Delgado, Cal’s attorney, told her that Cal would be returning to North Carolina in another week and that Delgado would handle any necessary communications. Other than his brusquely delivered wedding vows, Cal didn’t speak to her at all.
They left the ceremony in separate cars just as they had arrived, and by the time she got home, Jane was light-headed with relief. It was over. She wouldn’t have to face him again for months.
Unfortunately, she hadn’t counted on the
The media circus began.
Chapter Six
I’ll never forgive you for this,” Jane hissed as she snatched up the two halves of her seat belt and shoved them together.
“Just remember who showed up with a bow around her neck.” Cal jabbed the stubs from their boarding passes into the pocket of his sport coat and settled into the seat beside her. He bristled with hostility, and she couldn’t remember ever being in the presence of such naked hatred.
It was Monday, only five days since their makeshift wedding ceremony, but everything had changed. The flight attendant serving the first-class passengers stopped beside their seats, calling a temporary halt to the bitter verbal battle that had been going on between them in one form or another since the
“Congratulations! The crew’s so excited about having both of you on board today. We’re all big Stars’ fans, and we’re thrilled about your marriage.”
Jane forced a smile as she took the champagne. “Thank you.”
Cal said nothing.
The flight attendant’s gaze slipped over Jane, assessing the woman who had managed to snag the city’s most prominent bachelor. Jane was beginning to grow accustomed to the flicker of surprise on people’s faces when they saw her for the first time. They undoubtedly expected Cal Bonner’s wife to look and dress like a Victoria’s Secret model, but Jane’s well-cut tweed jacket, camel trousers, and bronze silk shell fell short of the mark. All of her clothes were of good quality, but conservative. The classic styles suited her, and she had no desire to make herself
